10 Must-Know User Experience Disciplines for Designers

Here are 10 user experience disciplines designers must know to make one design stand out from the the rest and make a hit. Now let's read these disciplines!

To make one design stand out from the the rest and make a hit, the breakthrough points of prime importance lie in paying focus on user experience, managing to grasp user’s psychological needs, making innovation boldly in interface layout, observing and working on the segments that rarely gain attention, or delivering a sense of intimacy in real life, etc. All of these mentioned above originate in inspirations and skills of designs. Here are 10 user experience disciplines designers must know.

1.Flow diagram is the foundation of all work

The first one of user experience disciplines is that flow diagram is the foundation of all work. Neglecting flow diagram and moving directly to development meeting can make development complicated and uncontrollable, and confuse users so that they may choose to close or even uninstall your App eventually. Therefore, even a simple App should have a comprehensive flow diagram to ensure a logical and reasonable navigation structure. Moreover, the screen with core functions should be located at the upper layer rather than being covered up by multilevel navigation elements.

2.A designer should explicitly seize his/her position in division

The second one of user experience disciplines is that a designer should explicitly seize his/her position in division. Only through the enforcement of developers can every detail designed by designers comes to life. Simple changes made in several hours exert a entirely different influence on App functions compared with that of the changes made in several days. What’s more, a design can’t entirely determine what the final functions of the product are.

3.Bitmaps and images with low resolution should be avoided

The third one of user experience disciplines is that bitmaps and images with low resolution should be avoided. Generally, with more and more kinds of screens of different resolution ratios emerging, Retina and high-resolution displays should be firstly taken into consideration in the adoption of images which can be afterwards scaled down, which is known by most designers but still deserves to be mentioned. Better choice is to use vectorgraphs rather than bitmaps and raster images. （Bitmaps and images can be listed as the common mistakes in logo design.)

4.Clickable area should be set appropriately

The fourth one of user experience disciplines is that clickable area should be set appropriately.The breadth of most users’ index fingers is 1.6 cm to 2.0 cm (44px to 58px). The breadth of index figure should be taken into consideration for it’s difficult to click on a small screen accurately when a user is moving his/her fingers swiftly. Buttons in the screen should be big enough and their intervals should be long enough for fear of users’ inadvertent clicks.

5.Cinematic intro should be refined

The fifth one of user experience disciplines is that cinematic intro should be refined. It’s a good idea to show user a cinematic intro when he/she opens the App for the first time. However, it should not go too far. Actually, these cinematic intros delay use’s contacting the App. If there is one, the time of a cinematic intro should be as short as possible, and its design should be elaborate enough to be attractive and be worthy for users of spending time waiting for it. Usually images are firstly showed and then the screen is switched to cinematic intro. The transition should be smooth and natural. The transition from picture loading to cinematic intro of some Apps is quite incondite. That’s boring.

6.There should be a progress bar or loading wheel

The sixth one of user experience disciplines is that there should be a progress bar or loading wheel. This is an important UX discipline, for there being a long loading time, user may consider that a fault has occurred and thus has a terrible experience. Therefore, there should be a progress bar (one of the leaing design trends) or loading wheel to let user know the normal operation of App when it’s loading, rather than just displaying a blank screen.

7.Different operating systems should be provided with different designs

The seventh one of user experience disciplines is that different operating systems should be provided with different designs. This user experience principle signifies that different mobile operating systems, such as iOS, Android and WPh7, hold different aethestic standards. Developers should learn conscientiously the man-machine interface guidelines of different operating systems and strive to transplant Apps of different versions, so as to refrain from making users feel confused and unconformable. It doesn’t mean that App must seem to be system-provided, but at least the App should not be abrupt and incompatible with the platform.

8.Too many contents or UI components should be avoided in screen with a high density

The eighth one of user experience disciplines is that too many contents or UI components should be avoided in screen with a high density. When designing UI for screen with a high PPI, designers are allowed to put more contents or UI components in the interface. Please keep in mind that all designs in physical device should be previewed. Interface with a mass of contents and UI components is chaotic and difficult to navigate effectively, and can even exert a negative influence on the demonstration of its major functions.

9.It’s necessary to do one potential test

The ninth one of user experience disciplines is that it’s necessary to do one potential test. No matter how perfect your App seems to be, one potential test is indispensable. Find one trustworthy person or an experienced designer to make a small-scale close examination and upload the interface before the publication. Another simple and practicable way to obtain user feedback is to post an ad on classified websites and recruit suitable employees to make a focus group test.

10.Don’t forget gesture and don’t overuse it meanwhile

The tenth one of user experience disciplinesis that don’t forget gesture and don’t overuse it meanwhile. Not every element is visual, such as the removing process of iPhone Mail app. In the in-box, user can tap heavily the screen to bring out the delete key without clicking on editing key, selecting the information and then deleting it. Nevertheless, it doesn’t mean that editing menu is of no use at all. It’s necessary for a user who doesn’t know how to use shortcut operations. In short, gesture shouldn’t be neglected and shouldn’t be overused neither.

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